


A Zombie Plague Swarms Konoha

by Lilac_Motion



Series: Halloween [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, Ninshu AU, Zombie AU, Zombies, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:33:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8389174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilac_Motion/pseuds/Lilac_Motion
Summary: "There was in truth, nothing Orochimaru hated more than waiting."  Driven together by the zombie outbreak, Yakushi Nonō, Orochimaru, and Anko, spends a night at a warehouse.  Alternative Universe, Modern AU, Ninshu AU,





	

**Author's Note:**

> "Ninshu AU" is the tag I use for a universe where the sociopolitical system of shinobi villages presided over by feudal lords does not exist (or no longer exist), but there is chakra use. Culturally, it's like the things we have with martial arts and yoga and meditating, except practitioners can harness chakra to affect physical change. Chakra isn't in common use, so most people's chakra systems are threadbare and walking on walls or on water is risky, trying to walk on walls past a hoard of zombies with a skill you only practiced as an afterhours hobby would be like trying to race a car alongside a cliff when you've only ever played at driving on a playground set wheel.

There was in truth, nothing Orochimaru hated more, than _waiting_. With years of practice, the genius scientist could affect an air of bored indifference, feign amusement over anticipated possibilities – but there was nothing he hated more than the _helplessness_ of waiting, especially for results he had no control over. For results he _no longer_ had any control over. Anko was his protégé and charge in more than the art of _ninshu_ , she shared his vicious drive in kendo and his love for improvised weaponry. He'd done what he could to teach her how to survive this calamity even before the first leaked reports gave hints to the madness ahead – and everything else, was out of his hands.

Nonō Yakushi would understand his feeling, and she had the tact to say nothing, staying silent on the floor before the barricaded door, her eyes peeking through the crack underneath – there will be nothing on the other side, the only way up was a ladder that _they_ couldn't climb.

Anko finally returned from her trawl through the air ducts exhausted but smug, pushing one bag of scavenged supplies in front of her and dragging another _giant_ bag out with a tug of her foot.

"Don't overdo it," Nonō admonished gently, her voice even and her hands steady as she looked Anko over and administered hydrogen peroxide over the abrasions and scratches caused by the rough edges of the air duct – carefully, so she doesn't miss a spot – watchfully, so no bite mark would escape her attention. Nonō Yakushi was a compassionate but pragmatic woman. Orochimaru had already seen her put down the remnants of a family, a man and his two children, all having fled the reanimated wife and mother – too late to escape being infected. She's done it with quick mercy, the hammer she carried in her doctor's bag coming down with chakra-infused force within a handful of seconds; one, two, and three.

Orochimaru wasn't watching them because he doesn't trust Nonō, he's watching them because Anko was his responsibility. Anko's head still fits into the palm of his hand.

"It was slow going, but I had to drag a second bag behind me – in case one of _them_ got into the ducts with me, I wanted something between my feet and their teeth."

"Anko-chan," Nonō paused to give Orochimaru a relieved smile (all clear), "they don't have the motor skills for scaling walls – chakra coils are almost as delicate as brain cells and are impeded by something as mild as the flu. A lot of _them_ can't even remember how to _walk_ upright. "

"But Nonō-san," Anko's eyes were burning with fierce worry, " _they_ don't have to know how to climb, someone could have put one of them in the air ducts, their parents, any adult wanting to hide an injured child from _them_ could have unwittingly set a trap for the rest of us where we least expect it. You've left Kabuto-kun on a tree didn't you?"

At this Nonō's smile hardened, and she raised one hand to push her glasses back against her face even though they haven't been sliding down, "Kabuto wasn't bitten, and he is not on that tree anymore."

Anko took a step back, both hands over her mouth. She's a clever and fierce child, bold and prone to moments of piercing brilliance, but she's still an artless child, "I'm so sorry Nonō-san! I didn't mean it!"

Nonō turned from Anko to Orochimaru, dismissing the subject, "What do you think, Orochimaru-san? Will we be safe enough up here for the night?"

 _Up here_ , was the attic above the warehouse for one of those mega superstores that stocked everything from grocery to small appliances, pharmaceuticals and seasonal items like Holiday decorations. There was probably enough canned goods down there to last the three of them for years, but unfortunately, the outbreak had blew up on this side of the town while the trucks were loading and the big giant doors were open. The warehouse with its many, many, crooks and crannies, were swarming with zombies. There weren't so many yet that they could form hills and crawl over each other onto the high shelves that Anko had accessed through the air duct. But if anyone had tried to stay here, it would only be a matter of time before that many was attracted to the warehouse.

"I don't think we have a choice, Nonō-san. It's dark outside, and we are far more dependent on our sight than _they_ are. We should use the rug to block the crack under the door, so sound and smell wouldn't get out, and we should block the air duct – just in case – but we need to stay here for the night and _sleep_. If they do get up here, I sleep lightly enough that I would wake before they get through, and if they come through the air duct we'll get their heads one by one."

Nonō was already nodding and blocking the door before Orochimaru have finished. She doesn't like talking to either of her travel companions much. (They weren't Kabuto, and Anko wasn't one of her kids – all of them _gone_ now.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm the most happy (least unhappy) with Yakushi Nonō's characterization, Anko felt like a generic kid, and Orochimaru was there to fill in the where and what.


End file.
